The City School District of Albany was notified Thursday that three people in the district have tested positive for COVID-19.
One individual is associated with a fifth-grade classroom at Pine Hills Elementary School. This individual was last in school Nov. 12 and is now quarantined at home. The Albany County Health Department has identified 52 additional contacts, including 16 from a First Student bus that serves Pine Hills. These individuals also are quarantined at home, following health department guidance.
A second confirmed case involves an individual associated with district offices at Harriet Gibbons Student Services Center. This individual was last in the building Nov. 16 and now is quarantined at home. The health department has identified two additional contacts, who also are quarantined at home.
All potentially impacted individuals at Pine Hills and Harriet Gibbons have been contacted; the health department has indicated that there are no other steps necessary for either building at this time.
Thursday’s third confirmed case involves an individual associated with the district’s community-based prekindergarten program at Capital Milestones. This individual was last at the program Nov. 13 and is now quarantined at home. The health department has identified 29 individuals who are on precautionary quarantine while the health department makes a final determination about their status as potential contacts. Capital Milestones made the decision to close the program Friday for deep cleaning and sanitizing. The program anticipates reopening Monday.
Health and safety procedures at all district buildings and on First Student buses include cleaning and sanitizing nightly. We will continue with these procedures, and also will continue to follow all required COVID-19 precautions (pre-arrival symptom screening and temperature screening for students and staff, wearing masks, hand hygiene, social distancing of 6 feet or more, and other precautions).
We also would like to remind everyone of steps you can take to help be safe:
- Maintain a social distance of at least 6 feet at all times from those you don’t live with.
- Always wear a mask that covers both the mouth and nose when you are out of your home.
- Wash hands with soap and water frequently when out of your home. If you cannot use soap and water, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Don’t touch the eyes, nose or mouth unless your hands are clean.
- Complete the Student COVID-19 Screener each day before your child leaves for school, available from the Students/Families dropdown menu above.
- DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD TO SCHOOL WHEN THEY ARE SICK OR HAVE SYMPTOMS:
- Signs of COVID-19 are: fever, fatigue/tiredness, muscle/body aches or pains, congestion, cough, runny nose, shortness of breath/difficulty breathing, nausea/vomiting or diarrhea, headache, loss of taste or smell, rash, feeling sick or unwell in any way.
- You can get a COVID-19 test by calling the New York State Department of Health COVID-19 Hotline at (888) 364-3065, or Whitney M. Young Jr. Health Center at (518) 407-0172 or (518) 465-4771.
- You also can find resources here:
